A Home for G-d

"A home in the physical world." Or, to use the Hebrew-kabbalistic term, dirah b'tachtonim. "This," say the chassidic masters, "is what man is all
about; this is the purpose of man's creation, and of the creation of all the
worlds, supernal and terrestrial: to make for G‑d a dwelling in the lower
realms."

What does it mean to make a home for G‑d in our world? Isn't He here already?
And how is this home made? The concept of dirah b'tachtonim addresses the
most basic questions of existence: What is our world? What is matter and
physicality? What is holiness? What does G‑d want of us? Why are we here?
Dirah b'tachtonim is the central theme in hundreds of chassidic works,
particularly in the Lubavitcher Rebbe's teachings, which translate this
seemingly abstract concept into a cohesive system and approach to meaningful
living.

Over the years, Chabad.org has published numerous essays, concept pieces and
stories — all deriving from the Rebbe's teachings — that explain this system
and approach. This week — the week in which we read of the Divine request,
"They shall make for Me a dwelling, and I will dwell amidst them" (Exodus 25:8)
— we assembled a selection of twenty-three such articles, linked below:

To embrace an 'essence' demands a belief that an essence is more than thought; it is a transfer of a thought to a source or place of reckoning. It becomes an entity with which one may commune, more so as the entity originates the desire to commune. Because we are a material presence we likewise need an entity, albeit not one we can touch, but one we can know nonetheless. Accordingly, the means through which we can commune with an essence is a place designated as the place of residence wherein one believes houses the entity and thereby becomes the home of the essence....The Temple.
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